Huawei Uses SMIC-made Chips For Mate 60 Pro, Competes With US In Semiconductor Technology

Huawei launched Mate Pro 60 during Gina Raimondo's visit to China. (photo: twitter @xiao76749796)

JAKARTA - Huawei and SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp), China's largest chipmaker, have succeeded in creating advanced processors with 7 nanometer technology to power Huawei's latest smartphone, Mate 60 Pro. These are findings reported by analysis firm TechInsights in a demolition report shared with Reuters.

The TechInsights report reveals that the latest Kirin 9000s chip used in the Huawei Mate 60 Pro was produced in China by SMIC. Huawei started selling the Mate 60 Pro smartphone last week. Specifications provided advertise its ability to make satellite calls, but do not provide information about the power of the chipset in it.

"This process is the first to use SMIC's latest technology with a size of 7 nanometers, and this shows that the Chinese government is making progress in efforts to build a domestic chip ecosystem," the research company said.

Huawei and SMIC have yet to comment on these findings.

Buyers of this phone in China have posted videos of dismantling and sharing rapidity tests on social media showing that the Mate 60 Pro is capable of reaching download speeds that exceed the top 5G phones.

The launch of this phone has excited Chinese state social media and media users, with some noting that this coincides with the visit of US Trade Minister Gina Raimondo.

Since 2019, the US has restricted Huawei's access to chip-making tools that are important for producing the most advanced mobile phone models. However, the company can only launch a limited batch of 5G models with existing chips.

However, research firms told Reuters in July that they believed Huawei plans to return to the 5G smartphone industry by the end of this year, using their progress in designing semiconductor tools and chip production from SMIC.

Dan Hutcheson, an analyst with TechInsights, said that this development was a "challenging" for the US. "Raidono came to calm the situation, and the chip said, 'Look what we can do, we don't need you,'" he said.